Last month Cartoon Network unveiled their 2017-2018 slate of shows, and alongside returning favorites like Adventure Time and Steven Universe, they also announced six brand new shows that will be premiering within the next television season. Two of these series, Ben 10 and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs are based on existing properties, but four of the newly announced shows are completely new, so I thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at these four new shows to see what they are all about.

Apple & Onion

The first new show is called Apple & Onion, and it is centered around the two titular characters as they have strange misadventures in a big city full of other living foods. The show was first previewed as a Cartoon Network Mini, a short on their YouTube channel, in May of last year, before being picked up to series. You can watch that short here.

When I first heard about the show, I expected something along the lines of Disney XD’s Pickle and Peanut, but judging from the tone set by this short, it seems to have a feel a lot closer to that of The Amazing World of Gumball. This is probably for a reason, as the creator (and voice of Apple) is George Gendi, a storyboard artist from Gumball. As someone who is already a huge fan of Gumball, I will be excited to see where this series goes. I loved the voices, which included Eugene Mirmen and Kevin Micheal Richardson, and the short was pretty funny. While some of the humor was hit or miss for me, overall I liked it, and I definitely think it has potential.

Craig of the Creek

Not much is known yet about Craig of the Creek, beyond a vague description and one promotional image. The series is apparently going to be set in a “Kid Utopia” and will follow the titular Craig and his friends as they have adventures in tree forts with tribes of children and dirt bike ramps.

Not enough is known about the show for me to feel strongly one way or the other, but it was created by Ben Levin and Matt Burnett, both of whom have been writers on Steven Universe. As Steven Universe is one of my favorite current animated series, this speak highly of the potential that this show could have.

Summer Camp Island

There is not too much information about Summer Camp Island available yet, but like Apple & Onion, it also started with a short. However, this short is not available online as it has been making its way around the film festival circuit. The closest we can come is a very short clip from the Toronto International Film Festival, which you can watch here.

The show was created by Julia Pott, an illustrator who has done some work for Adventure Time, as well as voice the role of Emily in the 2015 Oscar nominated short, World of Tomorrow. It has a very unique, storybook looking feel to it, and all the characters are quite cute. I like what I’ve seen so far, so I am hoping that this could be a win for Cartoon Network.

OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes

OK K.O. began its journey to series with a short in 2013 called Lakewood Plaza Turbo, which later became a series of shorts and free mobile games in 2016. You can watch the original short here.

Since this was a pilot episode, the art style has gone through some changes, and the show that will be airing will have a bit of a fresher look. When Cartoon Network first announced the new series they also released the title sequence, so we can get a look at what the final show will probably look like.

OK K.O. was created by Ian Jones-Quartey, who many cartoon fans will know from his work on Adventure Time and Steven Universe, as well as for his voice work on the web series Bravest Warriors where he plays Wallow. This alone is enough to get me interested in the show, though I have to admit I am not completely sold on the art style yet. I will not count that against it though, because when I first started watching Adventure Time I did not like the art at all, but it soon became one of my favorite cartoons.

So these are all the new shows coming to Cartoon Network in the year or so, what are your opinions on them? Personally I love that they all have such diverse styles, and each one looks to be completely unique. Too many cartoons these days just feel like they are copying each other’s styles, and the uniqueness in these preview images and shorts is really refreshing. I really hope that these qualities will stick around by the time the shows finally make it to air.

What do you think about these shows? Are you excited for them, or are you reserving judgment?

About Jonathan North

Jonathan North is writer, photographer, video editor, and animation fan from Iowa. He studied advertising and design at Iowa State University, and also has degrees in multimedia and art. His favorite movie is Fantasia, and his favorite cartoon is Gravity Falls. Or maybe Steven Universe. He can’t decide. You can find more of his work on his blog, as well as his YouTube channel, where he reviews all manner things, including (almost) every version ever of Alice in Wonderland. His favorites are the 1999 version starring Tina Majorino, and of course, the 1951 Disney version. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr, @jonjnorth.

I’m all for Summer Camp Island and it really looks promising from what I’ve seen. I’m also interested in seeing of what Craig of the Creek is all about. But Apple & Onion!? Is this some kind of reincarnation of Pickle & Peanut?

Did you watch the Apple & Onion short? I thought the same thing before I watched the short, but it has a completely different feel than Pickle and Peanut. The feel of the show is far closer to The Amazing World of Gumball than to Pickle and Peanut. If they do it right I think it could be a lot better than P&P.

I’ve seen the short video and I just wasn’t really impress by it as many other people were. Plus then again, these slapstick buddy type comedies aren’t really my type of thing. These days, I really just want something with a bit more substance and deep story telling.

Manuel Orozco

Cartoon Network hasn’t done anything interesting to me since the first two seasons of Dragons. So I’m not intrigued by these newcomers. Also can Ben 10 be given a rest?

Muir

There’s been plenty of good stuff since 2014.

Manuel Orozco

Maybe Unikitty can change that because she’s having her own spin off show co-produced by Phi Lord & Chris Miller. What’s more, she’ll be voiced by Tara Strong.

Dante Panora

Alot of people I know say the art style for Summer Camp Island looks like it was done in MS paint by a child in the early 2000s but if I’m being honest it’s kind of refreshing. After all the “CaltArts” style cartoons (Yes, that term may not be the best descriptor, but I don’t know what else), it has a kind of charm to it, and evokes some nostalgia for me.

P.S. sometimes I wish rotoscopers covered TV animation just a bit more. I’ve barley heard anything about the new Samurai Jack on here and for TV animation I think it’s groundbreaking.

I like how completely different SCI looks. I think they all look unique from each other, but that one is the most unique. I hope the writing lives up to the art. Of all the series here, that’s probably the one I’m looking forward to the most.

I can’t speak for the other writers, but I cover TV animation when I can, it’s just that I generally can only get around to what interests me, or what I am watching. I don’t have time to cover everything, even though I would like to. I know there’s a lot of great stuff out there that I’ve never seen, like Samurai Jack, which is why I haven’t covered it. I’ve heard it’s great, but I haven’t had time to watch it, and I’m not really sure if it’s online anywhere for me to catch up.

However, if you have an idea for an article, feel free to submit an one! We accept user submitted articles on a regular basis, and if you write something good enough, one of our editors will be happy to put it on the site. 🙂

Oh yes, I actually would give up all these just for Infinity Train. :p I’m still holding out hope though. Like I said in the article, Apple and Onion’s short has been online for almost a year, and OK K.O.’s short was made in 2013, so there’s still plenty of time for Infinity Train to make it to series. 🙂

I don’t mind if they are flash animated, (Or any other equivalent 2D animation program) if the truth be known, I think the majority of cartoons are these days, but they are getting much better at making it look hand drawn. I am almost positive Tangled is done on the computer, and I’m pretty sure Ducktales and BH6 will be too. But like I said, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If the character design is good enough, and the animation fluid enough, it can look amazing.

Manuel Orozco

True since I used to enjoy flash animation myself. Even Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends was flash animated and I had an on and off relationship with that show. Tangled, Ducktales and Big Hero 6 are supposed to be hand drawn.

It’ll be refreshing to have so many new shows on the channel, sure is more than I expected! I am intrigued by Craig of the Creek the most, reminds me of Kids Next Door and I’m all about kid utopia concepts.

Manuel Orozco

I wasn’t a big Kids Next Door fan myself but I did enjoy the kids vs. adults concept. I didn’t even know why the title organization got it’s name.

canis loopis

All of these just feel like the Amazing World of Gumball and Adventure Time knock-offs. It’s cartoon networks way of saying “this year were playing it as safe as possible” ill try to go into them with an open mind but I have a feeling its going to be painful.

Chasity

I’m hoping that they’ll allow Swat Kats Radical Squadron to come back since the producers are trying so hard to bring it back. In my opinion they never should have taken off the classics and replaced it with knock offs honestly all TV producers did was loose a bunch of loyal classics fans by replacing them with knock off versions of the shows that make the originals look like idiots who never see the shows and they took them off because they thought they were too “violent” shows like tom and jerry weren’t violent if parents are complaining about shows being violent then they need to turn there heads to video games instead because the violent video games are much much worse then the TV shows that a bunch of people loved and miss